I wrote this letter back in July and then never got around to pushing send because a bunch of other stuff happened. I still think it is worth sending, so pretend you're reading this at the peak of summer. Cheers!

Hello Friends and Family,

It's been a while. There is lots to get through, but I've found a moment of peace on a flight from Copenhagen to Seattle to write this (though I'll probably be sending it much later). We're returning from spending 7 nights in Sweden; Yuling, Amelia, Jonny, and I.

We were visiting Yuling's best friend from her school days, Jing, and her Swedish husband, Frej, who live in Lund.

Journey to Lund

We booked a direct flight from Seattle to Copenhagen on SAS. This was by far the longest plane ride the children had ever taken. There was a brief snag during our departure, as our plane sat on the tarmac for about 90 minutes due to some issue with our clearance through Canadian airspace. Once that was sorted, we were on our way. The flight left mid-afternoon Seattle time and would arrive in the morning local time. The flight was passed with a mix of sleep, movies, and games of Uno.

SAS was a comfortable airline to fly on. We sprung for a last minute premium upgrade offer. Sitting four-abreast in the middle of the cabin, there was plenty of room for everyone. The food was quite pleasant and the cabin crew were accommodating of the children's specific tastes.

We arrived in the late morning, nearly noon. It seems CPH is struggling with a new passport control system and we spent the better part of an hour in the queue to be photographed and fingerprinted.

Lund itself is about 30 minutes away by train. Everything is phones and digital payments. The train travels across the Öresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, through Malmö, and finally into Lund. From there it was a 15 minute walk to the home that had been arranged for us.

The most beautiful house

Frej's uncle and aunt own the most beautiful home on the most beautiful street in Lund. It can be found on many postcards in the city. The actual home is behind a central courtyard, shared with several other homes. The family members were spending their summer in a different part of Sweden and generously lent us their home in Lund for our stay.

Jing and Frej met us at the home a bit later. They had two little ones of their own, and the children quickly descended on a cherry tree in the courtyard to collect the ripe fruit.

Frej set about making a delicious dinner for us before we retired for the evening.

Life in Lund

Our goal for the trip was just for the eight of us to coexist in Lund with our children. We would eat home-made baked goods in the morning, or fetch them from a local bakery.

The entire city was walkable.

We enjoyed performances in the public theater and town square, the local cathedral, playing in the parks, and most of all, just being with some good friends we had not seen for a long, long time.

In the evenings, Frej and Yuling would cook. I was occasionally trusted with a menial task such as forming meatballs or scrubbing potatoes (and I would do what I could with the cleaning).

Frej is a musician (who only moonlights as a computer programmer), and we were never far from a piano and his music. (See https://www.youtube.com/@frejberglind for a taste.)

Visiting Malmö

Not being completely immune to the temptations of tourism, our nuclear family took a short excursion to Malmö. Malmö is a much larger city and has a more typical commercial district with more typical shopping and restaurants. We sampled the falafel (which we were told is the local dish) and visited the Disgusting Food Museum. I tried all the disgusting food they would let me and was told by the person assisting me that she never had someone get through it so quickly.

We finished the day at a local playground before taking the train back to Lund.

Countryside

On another excursion we visited Frej's parents in the country village. The simple act of sharing a meal with our generous hosts was the purest joy I had known for some time. The village was about 30 minutes away by bus, but we got off several stops early to walk the rest of the way on a forest trail, a stretch of the Skåneleden, the thousand-plus kilometer trail network that runs all through Skåne, marked the whole way with orange blazes.

The kids played in the little orchard, Amelia trying to catch butterflies with an improvised net. The adults discussed life and politics and careers, children, and memories of days past.

The kids burned off the last of their energy at the school playground across the street. Our walk to the bus stop took us past an old church which had rune stones built into its base.

Heading Home

We're on our way back home now. Due to a canceled train, our journey back to Copenhagen to catch the flight was in much closer company than we had planned, but we made it. CPH has a small playground where the kids could move a bit before settling in for the long flight back home. Due to the time differences, we arrive approximately when we left, in the early afternoon.

I will miss our time in Lund. We are grateful for the kind friends we met who invited us into their homes, cooked for us, and opened their hearts to us. We hope we can return again in the not very distant future.

As far as vacations go, I cannot think of a way I would rather spend seven days.